I've been buying and selling on ebay for 12 years now. I generaly have auctions going once a week. The last 2 months worth of auctions have been some of the worst ever for me. Not so much on the money side but the stupid questions being asked, Even after high quality pictures have been posted I get questions about the color, size and ecetra!

All this is clearly listed in my auctions! Deadbeat buyers are rampant, 10 auctions 4 deadbeats. People placing bids then wanting you to cancel them for some of the dumbest reasons I have ever heard, I mean come on how in the world can you mistake my auction for someone elses and accidently bid on mine??? Then after they receive an item, 3 weeks later you get an email saying awe it's not grey, pink, orange, ect like you said it was, even thought the pictures show the color and details. plus you've had at least 2 weeks handling your new purchase. What gives with that???

Even have sold a few items on some of the reputable ham sights (heck of alot lower prices than ebay) and have had the same experiances! I don't get it? Does anyone look at the pictures anymore or completely read the description???

Trading equipment for equipment online has also become a complete nightmare! High quality pic's sent, yes lets do the deal, deal done, 2 weeks later you get the Awe I cannot see the buttons, it's too small, after it's been in there shack for a week!!!! Can I have my stuff back?? WOW!!! Just totally unreal.

Is it just me with a bad run of luck lately or is the whole online buying/trading thing going down the tubes? I'm done with ebay as of this week, the buyers and the fee's are getting out of hand.

Local Hamfests around here are awful anymore. Make a offer at a table, the guy laughs and say's "I can get twice that on ebay" Hello your at a ham fest, not on ebay! Why even bring it to a hamfest if thats the way your going to act? Leave it at home and put it on ebay!!!!!

I blame it on the general trend during the last 20 years toward irresponsibility. More and more, I see people expecting something for nothing and an increase in the feeling of entitlement.

It is just going to get worse.

I do agree with this in regards to people feeling entitled, but its both on the sellers and buyers. E-bay prices are crazy high, I have seen 2 year old 857D's sell for $20 less than a brand new one, are you kidding me.. E-Bay is also driving prices up on the other classified sites, I wont even consider buying a used rig, but I will sell mine to the moron sheep on E-Bay for top dollar !

I do agree with this in regards to people feeling entitled, but its both on the sellers and buyers. E-bay prices are crazy high, I have seen 2 year old 857D's sell for $20 less than a brand new one, are you kidding me.. E-Bay is also driving prices up on the other classified sites, I wont even consider buying a used rig, but I will sell mine to the moron sheep on E-Bay for top dollar ![/quote]

Just this last week I purchased a Complete Kenwood Station (TS-450Sat, power supply, speaker and MC-85) from a private individual that I found selling off his home page on a corner of the web, lots of info found on the seller all good plus the deal was less that what I was looking at on ebay for just the rig and no accesories! Most of the 450's I saw on ebay were "untested" Looked horrific or had major problems! Plus they were selling for close to $500 with shipping. Heck of a chance to take!!

Hit by Lightning radios: Saw a TS-2000 go for close to $800 a few weeks ago, seller stated "hit by Lightning" will not power on, dead, smells burnt! The radio was toast and yet sold for around the 800 mark??? What??? Been seeing lots of crazy prices on non-repairable equipment. Awful lot of money for a paper weight!

Tube stuff!!! Just a few years ago you could pick up a Galaxy, swan, drake, ect in decent condition for less than $100, now look at the prices "untested" and $200+ min bids! Crazy! Even tubes alone have gone nutz!!!2 meter stuff 20 plus years old is selling for more than what you can buy a new base model kenwood for!

It's not just radio gear that has this problem. I own a very rare aircraft that I am restoring...as in it is the only one left. A number of years ago, an original maintenance manual came up on fleabay. Some dinglehead decieded to start a bidding war on it. When it passed about twice whatI could get a good copy of from the Smithsonian, I dropped out. Got a note about two weeks later from him that I could "have" a copy for a price of what he paid for it plus 20%. Told him no thanks as I was getting a copy form the archieves at 5 cents a page and not the $2 a page he wanted.

It's just not ham radio equipment, it's the way everything goes on e-Bay these days. The guy who says "I can get twice that on e-Bay? I ask him what he's doing there to begin with! Sam, W9KDX, has got it right--but he didn't go far enough.

First, nearly everybody wants something for nothing. Second, all too many people put 'stock' photos on their auctions--and people don't want to look to see what the description says--or just refuse to see the statement "Actual Photos." Third, all too many people think that e-Bay and any other selling site on the internet is a 'try it and return it if you don't like it' type of selling venue--just like a department store. MOST ARE NOT! This list could go on forever.

Heck, even the auctions where it states ITEM AS IS, NO RETURNS can be take lightly when the e-Bay "protection" policy is used. I had stated such on one of my auctions once, and still got burnt by that policy--and once is too many times as far as I'm concerned.

I guess that I have to give some dictionary definitions for Ebay terms and statements as unless a person has spent a great deal of time over a long period of years, he or she may not understand the unique Ebay concepts that have developed over the last two decades.

1) "Don't know how to test the item"...... means that the unit is "toast", dead as a doorknob, or major functions are "kaput".

2) "From my deceased father"... usually the person has been selling on Ebay for years, and if you could find auctions from him from years ago, you would read that his father was deceased even back then. So the assumption might be that he has had numerous fathers over the years who recently croaked or that he still hasn't interned his father yet.

3) "Very Rare!"... This description is usually applied to any old Radio Shack blister-packaged item. Usually the package is so old that if you look at it too hard or god-forbid, touch the package, the package deteriorates to dust. This is why the seller can ask $9.95 for a 7400 TTL IC, or $15.00 for a PL-259 coaxial connector.

4) "In perfect working condition when last used"... This statement never has the period of time since "last used". There is a formula however to determine this:LAST USED=TODAYS DATE-(AGE OF UNIT/2).

5) "Item came from my neighbor (or friend, or cousin, etc) who always kept his equipment in perfect condition"... Assuming that the original owner of the item isn't "deceased", then why would the item be given to the Ebay Seller who also claims reason #1 above as it relates to the condition of the item being offered.

6) "New, never used".... Unlike the Federal definition used by the Federal Trade Commision, "New" in this case means that the seller found the original owner's manual (with fingerprints, pencil or pen marks or writing), found the original box (torn or falling apart, with torn-off flaps), and if he is smart enough to clean off all the fingerprints on the unit and the unit is basically free from dents and scratches, this is the statement that will be made-NEW.

Did you ever see some of the used books on Amazon. Saw a few radio books that were no longer in print. Nothing special just interesting reading. New they would cost about $15. Used they run as high as $150! I would email the seller and politley tell them they are out of their mind but I never get a response. From their perspective they just let it sit and hope that someone is foolish or desparate enough to pay the inflated price. As they say "buyer beware".

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